Winner of PLN?s submarine cable tender to be announced in 2013

State electricity company PLN will announce the winner of the submarine transmission cable from South Sumatra to Java in early 2003, with total cost of about US$2 billion, Investor Daily reported on Thursday.

Director for construction at PLN, Nasri Sebayang said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the tender for the submarine cable project was now at a pre-qualification stage. ?We hope the winner can be announced in January or February, 2013 so that the winner can immediately begin the construction,? he said.

Nasri said PLN was targeting that the installation of the submarine transmission cable would be completed in the third quarter of 2016. He added that the submarine cables would help reduce the current loss and improve efficiency.

The cable will span 700 kilometers connecting Bangko in South Sumatra and Bogor in West Java. The cable will be used to transmit power supply from South Sumatra, where a number of coal-fired power plants are currently under construction, to meet surging electricity demand in Java. (*)